The Lodi Police Department is constantly looking for ways to
obtain additional training for its officers. In these tough
economic times it is not as easy to find this type of training as
it used to be. Fortunately for our department, we were selected to
participate in Urban Shield in the Bay Area a few months ago.

Urban Shield is an international tactical training competition
for Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, military units and
Intelligence teams. The event is designed to test the preparedness
of the individual teams in dealing with a growing number of
potential threats.

While we were not one of the competing teams, our SWAT team was
selected to proctor a scenario at Golden Gate Fields in Albany.
Proctoring a scenario is a precursor to competing in the event in
following years. By running a scenario we were not only able to
provide training to each of the teams that rotated through our
site, but we got to see different tactics, ideas and styles of
leadership from teams from across the world.

Urban Shield is a complex training competition that lasts for 48
straight hours. Eight person teams rotate through 31 sites over the
48-hour period. The teams do not get a break; they go from scenario
to scenario for two days straight. They try to catch a few minutes
of sleep as they travel from one site to the other.

The event is designed to create stress on the teams, induce
fatigue, and foster good decision making under less than ideal
conditions.

Teams are assigned a driver who navigates the busy roads
throughout the Bay Area. They must check in at two medical
checkpoints during the event to make sure they are able to
continue. People drop out due to extreme fatigue or injury.

The training scenarios consist of shooting ranges, hostage
rescue actions, search warrant service, and physical challenges
like obstacle courses. The training sites are all over the Bay
Area.

Urban Shield is a joint venture between local law enforcement
agencies, the state Office of Emergency Services, and the federal
Department of Homeland Security. The Alameda County Sheriff’s
office facilitates the training on the West Coast, while the Boston
Police Department puts on the event on the east coast.

Our scenario incorporated a hostage rescue and the use of some
very sophisticated electronic equipment. The teams were scored in
more than 30 categories ranging from planning to team movement to
motivation.

One of the highlights of the event for us was being able to
watch how some of the international teams dealt with the scenario.
The Israeli National Police team and the Jordanian teams offered a
unique perspective on law enforcement in the Middle East. The
Israeli team went on to win the competition.

What was truly interesting was to see an all-female Jordanian
team in the competition. What they lacked in equipment they made up
for with heart and fearlessness.

While their military training was evident, their exposure to
Western culture was almost non-existent. It was amazing to see how
excited they were to see the horses and lush green grass at Golden
Gate Fields. They took pictures of everything from our vehicles to
the scales where the jockeys are weighed.

Their presence opened our eyes to another part of the world
where the daily challenges are much greater than here in Lodi. They
were at Urban Shield to learn, but we also learned a lot about them
and their culture.

The training that our SWAT team was exposed to during the event
was world-class, and I can only hope we get to compete with these
teams in the following years.